Fantasy Football 2017 - Week 9 Matchups, In-or-Out, Big News

Summary

Fantasy Football 2017 - Week 9 Matchups, In-or-Out, Big News

Podcast: Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright
Release Date: November 3, 2017

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1. Opening Remarks and Injury Updates (00:00 - 04:00)

The episode kicks off with Andy Holloway addressing the rampant injuries plaguing the fantasy football landscape. The trio highlights significant season-ending injuries to key players such as Andrew Luck, Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins, Odell Beckham Jr., David Johnson, Darren Sproles, J.J. Watt, and Dalvin Cook. Mike Wright remarks, "Yeah, it's been unbelievable" (01:46) as they delve into the domino effect these injuries have on fantasy rosters.

2. Listener Engagement: Reviews and Giveaways (04:00 - 07:00)

Jason Moore shares a humorous listener review from Kevin, who affectionately describes his fantasy addiction:
"Every day I wake up, go to work, and around 8:30am Pacific Standard Time, I start to get the fantasy shakes." (06:57)
The hosts celebrate their "Foot Clan Friday" giveaway, awarding a $40 gift card to David Fairman (05:31) and encourage listeners to participate via footclangiveaway.com for a chance to win signed jerseys and a championship ring.

3. Thursday Night Football: Lineup Decisions and Injury Reports (08:00 - 23:00)

The hosts transition to discussing Thursday Night Football, focusing on lineup decisions impacted by injuries:

• LaShawn McCoy's Struggles:
  Mike Wright criticizes McCoy's performance, stating, "He caught zero passes targeted one time... absolutely submarines your fantasy team" (08:01).

• DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller's Setbacks:
  Jason Moore emphasizes the difficulty in replacing top wide receivers, saying, "You couldn't even play off of waivers" when discussing Hopkins' injury (03:49).

• Q&A on Player Status:
  The trio debates the status of players like T.J. Yates and Tom Savage, with Mike Wright declaring, "Hogwash" when Jason Moore challenges the validity of Savage's starts (05:47).

4. Fantasy Forecast: Matchup Analyses and Player Recommendations (23:00 - 55:00)

The hosts provide in-depth analyses of upcoming matchups, offering strategic advice for fantasy owners:

a. Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints

• Betting Insights:
  Andy Holloway presents a "hot take," predicting the Bucs will make the game competitive despite the Saints being 7-point favorites (27:13).

• Player Recommendations:
  Jason Moore endorses Ted Ginn for his high upside against a vulnerable Tampa Bay defense, while Mike Wright highlights Adam Humphries as a potentially undervalued asset (30:44).

b. Baltimore Ravens vs. Tennessee Titans

• Defense Focus:
  Mike Wright praises the Titans' run defense, suggesting that DeMarco Murray could capitalize on Baltimore's defensive weaknesses (31:43).

• Running Back Strategy:
  Jason Moore recommends starting Murray, noting his consistent involvement in the offense despite Ravens' defensive prowess (33:09).

c. Washington Redskins vs. Seattle Seahawks

• Quarterback Concerns:
  The hosts express skepticism about Kirk Cousins' performance against the Seahawks' strong defense, advising caution in starting him (35:46).

• Wide Receiver Watch:
  Andy Holloway advises monitoring Vernon Davis due to his potential target increase if Jordan Reed is sidelined (35:44).

d. Arizona Cardinals vs. San Francisco 49ers

• Adrian Peterson's Value:
  Mike Wright underscores Peterson's favorable matchup against the struggling 49ers' run defense, making him a solid start for fantasy managers (38:50).

• Receiver Analysis:
  Jason Moore remains skeptical about San Francisco's wide receivers, opting to focus on running backs like Carlos Hyde for reliable points (40:30).

e. Kansas City Chiefs vs. Dallas Cowboys

• Defensive Matchup:
  Andy Holloway notes the Chiefs' mediocre defense, suggesting Ezekiel Elliott as a dependable start due to his workload (42:19).

• Wide Receiver Picks:
  The hosts recommend starting Tyreek Hill for his explosive potential, despite his fluctuating performances (44:22).

f. Green Bay Packers vs. Detroit Lions

• Running Back Decisions:
  The trio advises benching Ty Montgomery in favor of Aaron Jones, who presents a safer option against a tough Packers run defense (52:05).

• Receiver Strategy:
  Jason Moore recommends starting Marvin Jones over Packers' receivers, citing the Lions' pass defense weaknesses (50:30).

5. Daily Dose: Expert Draft Segment (54:15 - 60:52)

In the "Daily Dose," the hosts engage in an expert draft simulation on draft.comballers, where they select players excluding the top-ranked options:

• Andy Holloway's Picks:
  Chooses Amari Cooper, Derek Carr, Javorius Allen, Eddie Lacy, and Jarvis Landry, resulting in a "B minus" team (55:18).

• Jason Moore's Strategy:
  Opts for Cam Newton, Alex Collins, Kenyon Drake, Sterling Shepard, and Marvin Jones, assessing his team as a "C+ plus" (59:26).

• Mike Wright's Selection:
  Selects Carson Wentz, Tevin Coleman, Marlon Mack, Devonte Parker, and Evan Ingram, rating his team as a "C plus" (59:26).

The segment underscores the challenges of drafting without top-tier players and highlights the importance of strategic selection based on matchups and player potentials.

6. Closing Remarks and Community Engagement (60:52 - End)

Andy Holloway promotes the Fantasy Footballers' community at jointhefoot.com, encouraging listeners to join for game day updates and exclusive content. Mike Wright mentions he will be live on Periscope on Sunday morning for real-time insights (60:33). The hosts wrap up by thanking listeners and reminding them to follow on Twitter at @FFBallers for ongoing fantasy football coverage.

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Notable Quotes

• Mike Wright on LaShawn McCoy:
  "He caught zero passes targeted one time which was on like the second drive of the game and absolutely submarines your fantasy team." (08:01)

• Jason Moore's Listener Review:
  "Every day I wake up, go to work, and around 8:30am Pacific Standard Time, I start to get the fantasy shakes." (06:57)

• Andy Holloway on Picking Strategies:
  "If you have to start a wide receiver for either team, who are you taking?" (32:02)

• Mike Wright on Carson Wentz:
  "Do I believe In Carson Wentz vs Denver?" (57:36)

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Key Takeaways

• Injury Management: Season-ending injuries are significantly impacting fantasy rosters, necessitating quick adjustments and strategic waiver pickups.

• Player Performance Analysis: The hosts provide nuanced insights into player performances and matchups, emphasizing the importance of understanding both offensive and defensive dynamics.

• Strategic Drafting: The expert draft segment highlights the complexities of drafting without top-ranked players, stressing the need for flexibility and informed decision-making.

• Community Engagement: Active listener participation through reviews and giveaways fosters a strong community, enhancing the overall podcast experience.

Conclusion

This Week 9 episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast offers a comprehensive analysis of key injuries, matchup forecasts, and strategic advice for fantasy football enthusiasts. With engaging discussions and actionable insights, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright equip their listeners with the knowledge needed to navigate the ever-evolving fantasy football landscape.

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Time Stamps Reference

• Relevant quotes and segments are referenced by their timestamps in the transcript provided.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, fantasy football fans. Before we start today's show, I just want to remind you about the ultimate DFS pass. If you like playing on FanDuel DraftKings on draft and you want an edge, we've got expert writers, expert picks. You can check it all [e-mail].

[Jason Moore]

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast coming to you from the Play Draft studios with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Andy Holloway]

Ah.

[Mike Wright]

Ouch. Nah, too soon, bro. Too soon.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't even know where to start today, but I do know I got we're gonna start.

[Mike Wright]

It's always a good place to start at the beginning.

[Andy Holloway]

In the beginning. Yogi Berra, I. Yogi Berra said that.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. You don't know those Yogi Berra tweets.

[Andy Holloway]

I do know the Yogi Berra tweets. His hot quotes. Yeah, he's great. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. I don't know where to start because we have news about Andrew Luck.

[Mike Wright]

We've been over this.

[Andy Holloway]

Deshaun Watson, Ezekiel Elliott, the beginning and we're in the upside down and the monsters coming for everybody. I mean, the list goes on and on and on. We were in the middle of the footcast yesterday when the News broke that DeSean Watson towards ACL out for the season, Promising record setting rookie for the Houston Texans. Your fantasy darling gone. Poof. Aaron Rodgers, Odell Beckham Jr. David Johnson, Darren Sprouls, J.J. watt, Eric Barry. I'm leaving a lot. Dalvin Cook.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it's been unbelievable.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. This year has been far more devastating to the stars. To the absolute stars. Which congratulations, Darren Sprols, for making that list. I saw you sneak him in.

[Mike Wright]

That's true. Hey, you got to respect the man.

[Jason Moore]

Absolutely.

[Andy Holloway]

Season ending injuries that cause other fantasy moves to get made. They bring in a Jay in the sprawl situation. Here's why we say you don't win your fantasy championship at the draft. Believe it or not, for all the praise that you guys have bestowed upon the ultimate draft kit, I'm so thankful that people love that we put so much effort and work into it. We do not have a section in the draft kit of injuries to come. There is no predictive injury analysis. Yeah, well, next year, apparently you can put every name and you'll be fine. But you have to adjust as a fantasy owner and you have to be able to prepare because it's not just the Sean Watson that gets affected by this. It's Lamar Miller and it's Hopkins and Fuller.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, the Watson injury is just as big as the Aaron Rodgers injury, if not a bigger situation, because it looks like Aaron Jones might be able to have some success at the running back position for the Packers. But DeAndre Hopkins, back to a wide receiver to matchup situation. Will Fuller, who's just. I mean, Will Fuller's been unbelievable. That's gone.

[Andy Holloway]

It's completely gone.

[Mike Wright]

That is. That is gone. Lamar Miller, he'll still be okay because he's getting volume. But Lamar Miller got that huge ball. He became great because he's in a high powered office.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he became great. He became someone who gets touchdowns as well as volume, which is basically the workhorse back you're looking for. That poof, gone, you know, and for some of these players, the Hopkins owners, the Fuller's owner, it's arguable that it's almost harder for them than it is for the Watson owner replacing a quarterback while Watson has been hot. Fire.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

You can do that. You can make a trade. You couldn't even play off of waivers.

[Mike Wright]

You played Josh McCown last night.

[Jason Moore]

Exactly. But now how do you replace a DeAndre Hopkins who was a rock solid top six wide receiver week in, week out?

[Andy Holloway]

You don't.

[Jason Moore]

You don't. And so that's why depth matters. That's why waivers matter. And you know, your trade deadlines are approaching. It's time to make the right moves to make sure you're prepared for these situations.

[Mike Wright]

Well, I am not giving credibility to the idea that Tom Savage is actually good. The one tiny little shred of hope. Tom Savage was starting week one. And remember, it was terrible. That was against Jacksonville, who. Who turns out now is the best pass defense in the NFL.

[Andy Holloway]

So maybe who single digits, Everybody.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. So maybe it won't be as bad.

[Jason Moore]

That's like finding the gray lining. It's not quite even, but look at that gray lining.

[Mike Wright]

It's sold out. So just.

[Andy Holloway]

Jason, you have the same amount of touchdown passes in the NFL as Tom Savage.

[Jason Moore]

I sure do. I've worked hard for about 35 years to achieve that level of NFL efficiency. I'm proud of it.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, let's, you know, let's celebrate something better.

[Jason Moore]

Foot Clan Friday.

[Andy Holloway]

We love the Foot Clan. We love them so much that every Friday we give them a $40 gift card at shopballers.com randomly selected Foot Clan supporter. [e-mail] today's winner is David Fairman.

[Jason Moore]

David Fairman. David Fairman, come on down. It's you. Your blood. Is that your game show voice? No, that is certainly not my game. I have no idea what came out?

[Andy Holloway]

Dracula.

[Jason Moore]

I usually never know what comes out of my mouth. So this is just par for the course.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. If you didn't hear the foot cast yesterday [e-mail] that's good. It's for the best. It's for the best. Jason hosted yesterday. Host David Fairman. Congratulations on winning this foot clan Friday giveaway. We do have another giveaway on the website, which is footclangiveaway.com youm can get a signed Ty Hilton or Devonte Adams jersey. We got a championship ring from fantasychamps.com and some other good stuff. We, we try to keep a giveaway going all the time.

[Jason Moore]

So you can always bookmark your bookmark the footclain giveaway dot com.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And you can enter multiple times and different ways to enter. It's always free on Twitter. You can find us at the FF Ballers. We have a busy show today. I have a feeling it's going to be a longer show. I'm going to let it go a little bit. I'm going to loosen. I'm going to loosen it up a lot. A little bit. And we haven't even started talking about Thursday night football. Before we do that, you know, from time to time we like to read a review. All your reviews on itunes, they really help the show out. They help support the show and sometimes they're quite entertaining. And this is one of those times.

[Jason Moore]

Review a source, Rex. This one comes in from Kevin. My name is Kevin and I'm an addict.

[Mike Wright]

Uh oh.

[Jason Moore]

Every day I wake up, go to work, and around 8:30am Pacific Standard Time, I start to get the fantasy shakes.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jason Moore]

It becomes so debilitating that I'm wandering around in a state of disarray, pacing around, constantly updating the itunes podcast till that sweet release of the day's pod. Oh, what a release it is. But it's over all too soon and the withdrawals slowly start to come back. Seriously, this is the best podcast on itunes. Exceptional fantasy insight, funny banter and superb grammar. Wink emoji. Oh, thanks, Kevin. Keep up the fantastic work, boys. You keep up the fantastic listening, Kevin.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you, Kevin. Appreciate it.

[Andy Holloway]

There's a part of that review where listening to our pod was strikingly similar to your daily bowel movement.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, what a release it is.

[Mike Wright]

You get the shakes.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, it's possible. Little Chipotle action. All right, let's talk about the Thursday night game before we get into the rest of the matchups. Some more of the news. And we have daily dose today as well. But Thursday Night Football I was starting Lashawn McCoy. We'll start there. Lashawn McCoy was an absolute disaster. 12 for 25. Believe it or not, when you look at Lashawn McCoy's year now, he's coming off two monstrous weeks. This was the third lowest amount of total yardage in the running game. So there have been games that followed this script for a good Buffalo team. He had a game with 21 yards and I think a game with like 9 yards rushing. But he had passing yardage in those games that gave his baseline what you come to expect in this game. He caught zero passes targeted one time which was on like the second drive of the game and absolutely submarines your fantasy team because while having Matt Forte was outstanding or some of the players on elsewhere, the majority of people were counting on McCoy in this game.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it was definitely a disappointing game. He pooped in his big boy pants and you know you're going to get that from everybody. Mike, you know, jokes about how much he doesn't like Melvin Gordon. We were looking. Melvin Gordon has two atrocious games this year. Now Shady has two really bad games. But you're not, you're not changing course. I mean Andy pointed out this morning before the show that there is a direct correlation between the LaShawn McCoy usage to the Buffalo Bill success. And I'm pretty sure they will find that out as well. And Shady will be fine. You just have to take your lumps. And the nice thing about it being on Thursday is that if you are a shady owner, you can now look at your lineup and say, okay, I'm in a hole, I have to claw back. Maybe I go for some swing for the fences, high upside guys versus just the safe. But not going to score a lot of fantasy point guys and make your flex decisions a little bit better.

[Andy Holloway]

Maybe you're playing Desean Jackson instead of Cooper cup, something like that.

[Mike Wright]

Josh McCown was, he was pretty fantastic in this matchup. Unfortunately he played well and the jets played so well that they were able to not really throw the ball in the second half. Robbie Anderson got it done again with a 25 yard touchdown.

[Jason Moore]

He's been hot. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Safari and Jenkins, the, the touchdown was called back. We have some, some differing viewpoints here in the office. And he felt it was justified. Jason.

[Jason Moore]

Hogwash.

[Mike Wright]

Hogwash is another touchdown was stolen from Seferrian Jenkins. But other than that, I mean the, the, the play of the night was the garbage man. Tyrod Taylor. My goodness.

[Andy Holloway]

Nice stream of the week and start of the week. 29 for 43, it was looking terrible. No, it wasn't. It was never looking terrible.

[Jason Moore]

Not for fantasy.

[Andy Holloway]

Not for fantasy. He was fair. He was fine. But he turned. He went from fine to fire. I mean, he went to that 30 point and above fantasy number because of garbage time, a successful onside kick, and honestly, Deontay Thompson, I mean, 10 targets, 81 yards and a touchdown. Second time in three games he's been the most relevant fantasy receiver.

[Mike Wright]

Do we need to start really actually paying attention to Thompson?

[Andy Holloway]

No, because. Because Kelvin Benjamin joins the fold next week.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And Zay Jones.

[Andy Holloway]

And zero targets to McCoy. So I paying attention. Depth of your league. Sure. I signed him in Dynasty, didn't play him.

[Jason Moore]

Sure. Yeah. I agree with Andy. He's not involved enough to really bank on him. And if you're chasing the points, you're going to run into the back of a car that stops in front of you like a dog. So, you know, Zay Jones had his kind of coming out.

[Andy Holloway]

Did you understand that, Brooks?

[Mike Wright]

I got it.

[Jason Moore]

The people were with me. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, wow.

[Andy Holloway]

I was turned around.

[Mike Wright]

It's a dog just chasing down a car.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, right.

[Mike Wright]

And he's barking.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure.

[Mike Wright]

Because he's got to get that car. And then the car comes up to a stop sign, doesn't know that the dog's chasing him.

[Jason Moore]

And Smash.

[Mike Wright]

And he runs into the back.

[Andy Holloway]

Does that happen?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Oh, I've watched cartoons. But my point is, I think you're chasing the points. And Zay Jones had his coming out party. He hyperextended his knee, left the game, came back in the game on a trip, and then left the game again. But overall started to actually look, you know, maybe it's like, oh, someone else is here who could play wide receiver. I gotta step up my game.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, and took him eight games to finally get a higher percentage of his passes. You're right. Let's talk news.

[Jason Moore]

News and notes from around the league.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. This was a surprise as well. Pierre Garcon, injured reserve. 49ers placed him on injured reserve yesterday, ended his season. Now we have to ask the question. Contractually obligated to cover all teams, is it Marquis Goodwin? Is that who you want to own? And I mean, to me, it is. I don't. I want to own him more than I do Taylor.

[Mike Wright]

Well, I mean, like, Aldrich Robinson could step into that possession role. McGoodwin is not the.

[Andy Holloway]

Goodwin's been surprisingly, like, consistent this year.

[Jason Moore]

Sure.

[Mike Wright]

And he's okay, but he's not the possession guy. He's the big Play guy George Kittles and bits. Maybe he gets a little bit more of that, that target action. But generally speaking, I'm not super interested in the replacements.

[Andy Holloway]

I had just talked yesterday how much I was looking forward to Garoppolo maybe bringing that Pierre Garcon value back up.

[Mike Wright]

You also had mentioned how you were a Pierre Garcon owner.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Mr. Fantasy Reaper.

[Andy Holloway]

Speaking of being an Andrew Luck owner, Andrew Luck is now on injured reserve. This is an unfortunate situation. There are a lot of people who felt like maybe the Colts were misleading teams, the press. I don't think that's the case. This was just a case of basically, look, the shoulder hit a wall in its recovery because he had come back to practice, started throwing, everything was going the right direction, and then he stopped progressing. And unfortunately, now you have. You have to take a break. Andrew Luck is on ir and now you hope that he can recover and be healthy for next season. I expect him to be. But look, I'm not the one to say that at the beginning of this year, I expected him to see the field like a lot of us did.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he is. He's been basically prescribed more rest. Several months is the quote of rest. So you're talking two, three, maybe four months of rest before you start throwing. He does not at this point in time need another surgery. But the question is going to come up in three months. If he starts throwing again and has pain again after that much rest, then you're talking real long term issues. So it's true. It's too early to know. You'll just have to. If you're in Dynasty or even in Redraft, just monitor this offseason. If in three months he's back, he's throwing, he's just training, he's rehabbing, and there's no setbacks. He, timeline wise, should be absolutely fine for week one. If there's a bump in the road, all bets are off.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And the fact that there's even a possibility, that is really unfortunate.

[Mike Wright]

Now, there is another really, really big piece of news. The Texans did sign Matt McGloin.

[Jason Moore]

McGloin, thank you, Jason.

[Andy Holloway]

And TJ Yates. And if all three of them.

[Mike Wright]

But TJ Yates doesn't have a funny name where we get to say if.

[Andy Holloway]

You melt all three of those guys down and cast them into one quarterback, you may have 60, 70% of Deshaun Watson.

[Jason Moore]

You got like 80% of Brian Hoyer.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's fair. Let's talk Zeke, guys.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

There's actually big news.

[Jason Moore]

All right.

[Mike Wright]

What Is that noise?

[Jason Moore]

Does this have to do with our listener league? What are you doing? What is happening? He thinks we're gonna get it.

[Mike Wright]

No, no.

[Andy Holloway]

The NFL swinging the ping pong battle.

[Jason Moore]

Zeke swung that battle.

[Mike Wright]

That was a ping pong.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Really?

[Andy Holloway]

That was tough.

[Jason Moore]

To each their own. No, that's ping pong.

[Mike Wright]

That's. That's definitely suction cup.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's the suction cup that's climbing up the building. You know, with the.

[Mike Wright]

No, just keep it going. I mean, all right. That's totally a ping pong bro.

[Jason Moore]

Here's the deal with Zeke Brooks.

[Andy Holloway]

Can you give us a verdict on the ping pong God, it's not going your way. Are you sure about that?

[Jason Moore]

All right, so with the Zeke news, the back, I agree with the analogy. I don't agree with the ping pong sound effect.

[Mike Wright]

Like he said, there's a man in a black Zeke scaling a skyscraper with his spy tools.

[Andy Holloway]

Wait, is that more ping pong?

[Jason Moore]

Like, there you go. That's. I mean, well, that's a clock.

[Mike Wright]

That's a clock, but. Yeah, that's better.

[Jason Moore]

It's still better, but it's a clock. That's a grandfather clock.

[Andy Holloway]

Is that. Is that a ping pong battle?

[Jason Moore]

No. Yeah, no, that's perfect. Great ping pong sound effects here.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm sweaty.

[Mike Wright]

We need the guy from police academy.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So with the Zeke news.

[Andy Holloway]

Does anybody know the news?

[Jason Moore]

Yes, I do. So Zeke is. Now he's been granted his stay, which means he will. He will. Oh, great. Ping pong sound effect. Mike, that was on point. Do that again. Oh, man. Big pong is on point. All right. What was I saying? Okay, so Zeke is absolutely playing this week. That's been written from the court, even in the documents says he is playing this week. After that, once again, all bets are off. So now we are pushing into the fantasy playoffs. Should his suspension come.

[Mike Wright]

We already were.

[Jason Moore]

No, I know, but we're pushing deeper. You were only going to miss the first game. Now you're missing week one and week two of the fantasy playoffs. If he's suspended after this week, why.

[Andy Holloway]

Isn'T he considering fantasy owners?

[Jason Moore]

Seriously? So selfish. Now there's a better chance, you know, than there had been that maybe he's not spending at all this year. The truth is, Zeke will be suspended. There's no. There's no doubt that Zeke will be suspended. It's just win. Can he push it all the way to next year because for some reason that's valuable? Or can you push it another week or two back I wish. I mean, this is just the worst case scenario. So a little story here. Andy and myself are head to head in the Listener League. The listener league that, you know, we. In the offseason, we try to get a couple listeners in and you should be crafting your submissions even now for 2018. But we are head to head. We're both five and three and I was projected to win. I got Alfred in my lineup.

[Mike Wright]

Nice.

[Jason Moore]

Guess who has Zeke? Andrew Holloway does.

[Andy Holloway]

I didn't realize you had ALF there, buddy.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So I just lost star running back and now he just gained one. And you're projected to win by 12 now.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, that's good.

[Jason Moore]

Anyways, moving along. So there's very little information if you have ALF or dmc. I know it sucks to keep holding them, but you have to because you still could be one more week away from having a guy who now would take you all the way to the fantasy championship week.

[Andy Holloway]

So you have to hold Doug Peterson. Still deciding if JI is going to play at all on Sunday, suddenly that becomes a very scary situation. If you have a Jay and you're counting on him, you need to have a backup plan. We saw Kelvin Benjamin not play last night.

[Mike Wright]

Right. But at this point, if a coach on Friday is still saying, well, maybe, maybe he'll play, maybe he won't, then.

[Jason Moore]

If he plays, can you even trust.

[Mike Wright]

Him if he plays?

[Jason Moore]

No. I mean, I don't. Before this news, this was kind of the expectation. We don't know how much he's going to touch the ball, and when he does, it's against the horrific league, great Denver defense for, you know, you didn't pull it back.

[Andy Holloway]

You just kept going.

[Jason Moore]

Just dig. You'll get out the other side. Just keep digging.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure, Mike, you're gonna be on periscope on Sunday morning.

[Mike Wright]

I will. I will.

[Andy Holloway]

That's good.

[Mike Wright]

An hour before kickoff.

[Andy Holloway]

Game day alerts. Those will be out for Foot Clan members that join the Foot.com. an hour before kickoff. And we're gonna talk some injuries.

[Jason Moore]

What's it gonna be, McFly?

[Mike Wright]

Are you in or out?

[Andy Holloway]

You expect Joe Flacco, Jay Cutler to play?

[Jason Moore]

Yes and yes. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Jay Cutler's practicing in full.

[Andy Holloway]

Devonta Freeman.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it was.

[Andy Holloway]

They're saying or out?

[Mike Wright]

In. They're saying it was a stinger.

[Andy Holloway]

Lamar Miller.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. He'll be in.

[Andy Holloway]

Terrence West.

[Mike Wright]

I expect out.

[Jason Moore]

I agree.

[Andy Holloway]

That makes it easier. Still not practicing easier for Alex Collins. Owners Emmanuel Sanders.

[Jason Moore]

He's expected to return this week, so.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going to say in Devonte Parker.

[Mike Wright]

Practicing in full in.

[Andy Holloway]

Jameson. Crowd air.

[Jason Moore]

Missed Wednesday and Thursday right after the breakout game. Now he's not practicing. He's, I think, going to be a game time decision. Hamstring issue. It's tough.

[Andy Holloway]

If he was out, does that raise your Josh Doxson stock? Your stocks in and Josh Doxson?

[Mike Wright]

Probably not.

[Andy Holloway]

Would you play Josh Docson or Mikey's.

[Mike Wright]

Goodwin this week, Doxin, against Seattle.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, that's right. The matchup. I'm looking elsewhere.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I promise I can find someone on the waivers better than those options.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Those are the two guys that you may have to play.

[Jason Moore]

But I will say this. If Crowder does play, you don't play him. Not with a hurt hamstring. Missing practice against Seattle.

[Andy Holloway]

There you go. Corey Davis in.

[Jason Moore]

In and excited.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. Welcome back.

[Andy Holloway]

Marquis Lee.

[Mike Wright]

I think he's going to be out.

[Jason Moore]

I agree.

[Mike Wright]

Hasn't practiced Wednesday or Thursday with a knee problem.

[Andy Holloway]

Would you play Hearns over those other guys I mentioned?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I think I would.

[Andy Holloway]

Cole Beasley, concussion.

[Jason Moore]

I think he's gonna play practice on Thursday. Has he passed concussion protocol? Do we know for sure?

[Andy Holloway]

I haven't. You normally can't practice if you haven't.

[Mike Wright]

Well, you can.

[Jason Moore]

You can practice some.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. Yeah. I don't know what the nature of the practice was. We can.

[Jason Moore]

He'll probably be in. Jeremy, I'll say this. Usually when guys are practicing, they're passing enough of the protocol to where they. They end up playing that week.

[Andy Holloway]

Macklin and Wallace from Baltimore.

[Mike Wright]

I think Macklin will play. I don't know if you can trust him though. The injury history this year of just in and out of games.

[Jason Moore]

He's in. You can trust him. Start him.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, all right.

[Jason Moore]

Good matchup. He's been great this year when he's got Joe Flacco. I think Macklin's fine.

[Mike Wright]

All right. What about Wallace? Mr. Raven Whisperer.

[Jason Moore]

He has cleared the concussion protocol. He was added to the injury report for a back issue on Thursday. I think he plays.

[Andy Holloway]

He's the Three Eyed Raven.

[Jason Moore]

Ooh. Oh.

[Mike Wright]

Kenny Golladay, Jagged. It's not. Nothing smooth right now.

[Andy Holloway]

All right.

[Jason Moore]

Kenny Golladay, bad notes.

[Andy Holloway]

Jordan Reed, Zach Ertz.

[Mike Wright]

Was that a ping pong ball?

[Jason Moore]

Yes, it was. Good call.

[Andy Holloway]

This is a bad time to say I practice my ping pong sound all morning long.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, man, I. I hope that is true.

[Andy Holloway]

Jack Ertz, in or out, Reed?

[Mike Wright]

Out. Ertz, you need to monitor that situation. Limited. With a hamstring, I believe he'd play, but you really do need to be prepared for him to be out.

[Jason Moore]

Man, if he's out, I'm just throwing this out there. You could do worse than Trey Burton in the games that Ertz has missed. Trey Burton has been good. This is a matchup that needs the tight end, Trey Burton.

[Andy Holloway]

Remember how much you were talking about Gronkowski might miss some games, and that's the one reason you like Ertz.

[Jason Moore]

Was that yesterday's footcast? Yes, it was. I do remember.

[Andy Holloway]

Zach Ertz doing you a favor here. Delaney Walker, Martellus Bennett.

[Mike Wright]

Delaney Walker has not practiced. He's out week. I think he's out. Let's say you have Walker and there's absolutely nothing similar to Ertz pivoting to Trey Burton. Same team. You can pivot to Johnny Smith and feel at least okay about it.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I concur.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, we're going to get into the fantasy forecast. The rest of the matchups. If you didn't catch the first half, they were on yesterday's podcast, which is still available for free.

[Jason Moore]

I love them.

[Andy Holloway]

I love Michael Keaton, too. All right, Today's show is sponsored by Harry's and my cleanly shaven neck.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, it is.

[Andy Holloway]

That's right. For decades. You guys know this one big razor company out there, they. They've increased the prices. They've reaped immense profits. Different kind of reaping than I do to fantasy players. And that's cost you the customer. So Jeff and Andy, the two guys that started Harry's, they got fed up with getting ripped off. They. They started this company. They insured the quality of the blades by buying their own blade factory. And their blades are 2 bucks a blade compared to the $4 you go pay at the drugstore. I love Harry's. I've been using it forever. Used it this morning. Use it all the time. Used it when I shaved my face to become Batman on Halloween.

[Jason Moore]

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[Andy Holloway]

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[Jason Moore]

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[Andy Holloway]

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[Jason Moore]

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[Andy Holloway]

All right guys, let's get into this matchup here. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers travel to New Orleans to take on the Saints who are 7 point favorites. Believe it or not, this is mine.

[Jason Moore]

Andy's almost upset of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

Saints are seven point favorites at home in this game.

[Mike Wright]

That's a hot take.

[Andy Holloway]

It is a hot take, but this is a very formidable offense from Tampa Bay. So I think they're gonna make this game competitive. Vegas believes it's going to be high scoring. 52 point over under and you've got the, you know, Breeze Winston matchup in this one. A lot of weapons in Tampa with Doug Martin and Mike Evans to Sean Jackson, Cameron Brait and Howard emerging. I think it's going to be a close one. I'm really excited for the fantasy prospects of this game. So are there some starts at decisions here that you guys are laboring over? I mean, a guy like desean Jackson or a guy like Ted Ginny, those seem like the harder decisions. We know we're rolling Martin out there, we know we're rolling Ingram out there. What do you guys think about those two players?

[Jason Moore]

Ted Ginn specifically? I know he's your start of the week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I like him.

[Jason Moore]

I didn't mention this on yesterday's show, but there were two players I was going to make my start of the week that you had already claimed. Oh, Very nice was Ted Ginn. I really like him. This week. The Tampa Bay secondary has given up so many points to the wide receiver position. And when you look comparatively to what other teams have given up to the same wide receivers they've based, it's not close. So I think you, you know, Michael Thomas is going to be great. Ted Ginn is going to be great. If the wide receivers there are going to be great, then ipso facto, you've got Drew Brees as a great start. This is, you know, last week we saw a lot of matchups, including Tampa Bays, that were kind of derailed by the weather. This is. This is where you want your fantasy game taking place at home in New Orleans, in the Dome. If Drew Brees is able to score, that means that Tampa is going to have to get back on the other side. And, you know, I think it's good for Mike Evans and the one player that I look at this matchup, and I think that for Tampa Bay to win this game, there's a player who has to perform, and Tampa Bay knows that. That's Doug Martin.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

I think the New Orleans Saints are not. Their defense has been much better. We can't just look at them like we did last year and the year before saying, horrifically bad start, everybody. But they have not been a good run defense. And I think you're going to have to put some of this team early on Doug Martin, and if he finds success, they'll continue with that. So I don't mind him either. I pretty much like every single asset in both sides of this game.

[Mike Wright]

You like O.J.

[Jason Moore]

Howard, you know, O.J. i've tried to grab him on a couple leagues and just stash. I don't think I would play him yet.

[Andy Holloway]

One of the reasons I like Tampa to surprise in this game is because we're all about the Saints, and I love the fact that they're succeeding. But the last two matchups they've had, you know, you were going against, you know, Green Bay without Aaron Rodgers, and you were going up against Mitch Trubisky in Chicago. Before that, when they faced a competent enough quarterback, it was 32 points given up to Matthew Stafford. And so they, I. They seem to be a team that good, not great, willing to stop in the right matchup. But they have had games this year where they've given up a ton of points. So I'm very curious to see what happens. I think Tampa is in need of a big win until the otherwise, their season is going to be completely derailed.

[Mike Wright]

Mike Evans, unfortunately will be facing off against Marshawn Lattimore, who's really emerging as an excellent corner. That does not mean you bench Mike Evans at all. The sneaky snort of this game for me, believe it or not, is Adam Humphries, who should have Kenny Vaccaro on.

[Jason Moore]

How do you pronounce that?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, I apologize. I believe it's with an umphries. Thank you so much. But the, the Saints, they have some good DBs, but they are susceptible to the slot. The wide receivers. So I think that Adam Humphreys, like if you're in our friend's situation, who is certainly not Andy of starting Marquise Goodwin or who was the other player.

[Andy Holloway]

It was Marquis, Goodwin or Josh Dockson.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Adam Humphries would be a name I would add into that list of. To take a look because he's more than likely on your waiver wire.

[Andy Holloway]

He is.

[Mike Wright]

There you go.

[Andy Holloway]

Let's talk about the Baltimore Ravens and the Tennessee Titans this week. We've talked about the wide receivers, their availability or lack thereof. That's been the case this year. Joe Flacco did look good with Jeremy Macklin last week and you know, before both players or before Flacco was injured, Javorius Allen, Alex Collins, Terrence west, who apparently we just got word he returned to practice on Friday.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, did he?

[Andy Holloway]

If he was active, it would just be. It was just muddy waters that I'm so unsure of. Anyways, the Titans have struggled a little bit on defense this year, but where are we looking for, you know, what are the fantasy decisions this week? If you've got to start a wide receiver for either team, who are you taking?

[Jason Moore]

That's a. That's a great question. You have to start one from the combination of both teams. I think I lean Macklin simply because I know that he. While the. While the Baltimore Ravens offense has not been, you know, high powered by any means, he is still the first. The main target here in this offense. He's had a couple touchdowns this year. Joe Flacco is back past the concussion protocol. If I wanted a higher upside and want a bigger splash play, I would lean towards Corey Davis, take that shot at, you know, Week one. Their star rookie for the Tennessee Titans came out and looked like he was supposed to be drafted. Top 10 targets. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

In his very first game.

[Jason Moore]

He's back. They're out and back off the buy.

[Andy Holloway]

The Ravens are a. Yeah. Powerful defense when it comes to. I was going to say 17 completions a game is what teams average against them. That does not afford a Lot of opportunity and they looked so great in their last game. Coming out and dominating that. I'm. I'm really not excited about any pass catching options. Even I'm not excited about Marcus.

[Mike Wright]

Mario, are you going to stream Mario to this?

[Andy Holloway]

Mariota has to prove that he's back to being a fantasy force to me before I start him.

[Jason Moore]

Agreed.

[Mike Wright]

Rough matchup. The Ravens are averaging one and a half interceptions per game. Are you playing the Baltimore dst?

[Andy Holloway]

I would be hesitant on the road to roll them out there if there's a better option, but I, you know, they're middle of the road for me.

[Jason Moore]

I've still got them in my top 12, so I would play them. They're not the greatest.

[Andy Holloway]

DeMarco Murray, though, do you have any fears starting him?

[Jason Moore]

No, no fears. I think DeMarco Murray is going to be really. Yeah. I mean, DeMarco Murray is the lead back and they're going to have to run the ball against the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens defense has gotten. The rush defense has gotten a little.

[Mike Wright]

Bit better, but it was not a little bit better. It was dominant. Now granted that was against Miami and Miami's offensive line where you can, you can literally just walk.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Into the back and grab a Minnesota.

[Andy Holloway]

Chicago, Oakland, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville all ran wild over Baltimore, but that was due to. Yeah, Brandon Williams was out, but that doesn't, you know, we'll see what happens. He was back in Minnesota game and they gave up 30 fantasy points to the running back. So you're right. It's kind of a push comes to shove for that defense, see if they've leveled up at all against the run. I think you're starting a guy. 18 carries. DeMarco Murray, now he's had time to recover from some ailments and he'd be my only confident play on that side of the game.

[Jason Moore]

He's a solid running back to this week.

[Mike Wright]

All right, that, that's fair. If you're playing him as a 2, I can be on board with that.

[Andy Holloway]

Or if You've already played McCoy, he's your one. He's your one. The Redskins take on the Seahawks in Seattle before you run on.

[Jason Moore]

Even if Terrence west is active, I'm starting Alex Collins. Just.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

You think he's. I think Alex Collins is the starter and he has earned a fantasy football start.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. All right. The Redskins, they take on the Seahawks in Seattle. We had the barn burner last week with Houston and Seattle. Are you expecting more of the same here? Is Kirk Cousins capable of it on the road against Russell Wilson and the.

[Mike Wright]

Seahawks, he's capable of it. But this is, I mean this is a bad situation for Kirk Cousins. If Jameson Crowder is out or severely limited. He's already expected to be missing Jordan Reed. While Vernon Davis is a fine plug and play in for your fantasy team, he doesn't provide to the offense what Jordan Reed does being a safety valve frequently for Kirk Cousins. So it's. And with the offensive line injuries that Washington continues to pile up, I think this is trouble. Trouble for Kirk Cousins in Washington.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't think I really want to start any Redskin player. Yeah, I'm including Rob Kelly. I would play Thompson. Chris Thompson would be the one start on that roster.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I agree. I would not want to start Kirk Cousins this week. I mean the Seahawks did lose Jeremy Lane. Oh wait, what is this? Oh, they got Jeremy Lane back. So their defense, he got it back.

[Mike Wright]

Because he failed a physical.

[Jason Moore]

Well, he failed the physical but he's been playing week in, week out. So I. And look, if you're the Seattle Seahawks defense, you were embarrassed last week. You know what I mean? This is not a team that is going to just roll over and die. They've got something to prove. And if Kirk is without his.

[Andy Holloway]

They rolled over and won last week.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's amazing.

[Andy Holloway]

That's what they ended up doing.

[Jason Moore]

That was thanks to Russell Wilson. Now let me ask you this. If the Washington offense is not able to get it going, if the weapons are gone, Jordan Reed is out, James Crowder's out and the defense shuts down Kirk Cousins, does this lower the potential fantasy points from the other side of the ball in the pass catching options and more specifically in Russell Wilson. I mean how high?

[Andy Holloway]

I think I take the under in this game anyways. I wasn't very high and bullish on Baldwin. You know Josh Norman and that passing defense has been six best in the league against fan. You know, in terms of points given up to fantasy wide receivers and you have the random assortment of Baldwin, Lockett, Richardson, Graham. I was already kind of tempering expectations. That's a good narrative to maybe say, look, maybe you need to pick a running back and hope and pray you pick the right one. It seems like it's Eddie Lacey this week or maybe you just stay away.

[Mike Wright]

I'm starting Eddie Lacey this week, more so being forced to do it. But if you want to join me on that experience this weekend, feel free you guys.

[Jason Moore]

There are no refunds on the ticket.

[Andy Holloway]

Brook, if Crowder were to miss, does.

[Jason Moore]

That help Vernon Davis targets potentially Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

I think Davis is a streamable candidate. I'd play him over.

[Jason Moore]

It's funny, I would play Vernon Davis as a tight end over Dachshund as a wide receiver or really any of the other wide receivers.

[Andy Holloway]

It's a fair point. Fair point. Anything else from this game you guys want to touch on before we talk cardinals 49ers? Before we have to talk cardinals 49ers?

[Jason Moore]

Only other thing I would say is that the trio of good wide receivers that Seattle has and Doug Baldwin, Tyler Lockett and Paul Richardson, if this game does IND fall on the under, it's going to be difficult to figure out who's going to get it, you know, so it's one of those situations where you might want to stay away from Tyler Lockett and Paul Richardson this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. Cardinals, they travel to San Francisco. Off the by they take on the 49ers. Cardinals are two and a half point favorites on the road, 39 and a half point over under. The big storyline from this game would seem to be Adrian Peterson and the workload we expect for him against the 49ers rushing defense that has struggled throughout the year.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, this is lucky timing for the Arizona Cardinals with the loss of Carson Palmer. Drew Stanton will be coming in. He is not, not good. And but luckily you get the matchup with the 49ers who are just terrible this season. 29th against the run, 24th against the pass. And offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin for Arizona has already come out and said they plan to feed the beast, which. Yeah, of course you do. So I think Adrian Peterson is a fine play. Maybe even Larry Fitz, he would fire him up in this matchup. Maybe the timing of this is like a last, last fantasy hurrah for the Arizona Cardinals before you can't.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, yeah, I would agree. And little known fact, the second player I wanted as my start of the week that you had grabbed was Adrian Peterson. I'm extremely confident with the extra week of rest, the need and the matchup that Adrian Peterson has a very good.

[Mike Wright]

Week those next two weeks. Seattle, Houston. Yeah, like I said, that's not so good. Enjoy your Cardinals while you can.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And I'm sitting here looking at. It's just the Cardinals defense, they give up so many points. I just wonder where the value is going to be for San Francisco at home. You know, Bethard has been somewhat competent enough even in a fantasy perspective. 1718 points in our league format. I know it's not. He's not startable. I'm not saying that by any stretch My point is that I think with the Cardinals defensive struggles and San Francisco being at home, somebody will be valuable here on San Francisco. Do you disagree?

[Jason Moore]

I think I lean that. I do disagree. I don't think anybody in the passing game is going to be valuable. I do believe that even though Arizona, their secondary has been able to give up a lot of fantasy points, Bethard with garbage weapons isn't going to get it done. And that might even hurt the running game because now you can focus a little bit more in. I'm still willing to, I mean I'm, I start Carlos Hyde, sure. I realize, you know, he had a little bit less work last week, but he is too talented and still too involved in an offense to just take out Now. I don't start him as an absolute must start if you've got a great core of running backs, but he's a fine play. Outside of that, I'm not sure that there's anybody on San Francisco that I that I'd be willing to start.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, who is Patrick Peterson shutting down this Marquis?

[Andy Holloway]

Goodwin.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So.

[Mike Wright]

So there. I think that answers your Goodwin question.

[Jason Moore]

Trent Taylor.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Maybe he won't be playing against fail.

[Mike Wright]

No, but it's.

[Jason Moore]

No, no, no. That's like your next best fantasy.

[Mike Wright]

Aldrich Robinson. I don't know.

[Jason Moore]

Don't do it.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Yeah. By the way, if you have start sit decisions that you're not hearing us, cover some thoughts and you know, you want to know whether to start one guy or another, you can always go to our website, the fantasy footballers.com. there's a big rankings button up on the top. You can see our individual rankings and our consensus rankings and get in on the forums too.

[Jason Moore]

A lot of, lot of Foot Clan listeners who listen to the show and you follow fantasy as you do that can you can bounce questions off as well.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. So let's talk Chiefs Cowboys. We now know that Ezekiel Elliott's back in this game. The Cowboys are one point favorites. I would start him a 52 and a half or sorry, a 52 point over under and it's interesting and comedic. The Chiefs are 28th against the run, 28th against the pass. Cowboys are 15th against the run, 15th against the pass.

[Jason Moore]

What?

[Andy Holloway]

So they're, they're settling in on being mediocre and bad in both departments. So let's look at the Chiefs defense. Are they going to be able to stop Dak, Zeke or DEZ in this game? No, they're starting all of them.

[Mike Wright]

I love all the Cowboys starting with me. He's a Fine play. He's. His ceiling once again, is always low.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he's like one of those old houses that built.

[Mike Wright]

He's got the seven foot ceiling.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. With popcorn ceiling.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Probably a. Jason Whitten is a popcorn specialist.

[Mike Wright]

This is everywhere, but it still works.

[Andy Holloway]

Still a shelter.

[Mike Wright]

Rain doesn't come in.

[Andy Holloway]

We've got him at nine, by the way, this week. Jason Whitten at our consensus number nine.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean, there's nary a player. I won't start in this area.

[Mike Wright]

Nice.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, you've got a 52 point over. Under where I would take the over. Dallas will not be able to stop the Kansas City Chiefs, and I don't think the Kansas City Chiefs will be able to start Dallas. So start or start Dallas, I don't think they'll be able to stop Dallas. The weather looks to be fine. So I don't think that there is any situation here where, I mean, someone will disappoint because expectations are high. But you have to. When you're projecting these things and making your lineup decisions, everything points to starting all these players, especially Tyree Kill.

[Mike Wright]

I was going to say Tyreek Hill. You got to follow.

[Jason Moore]

This is. I've got a slide.

[Andy Holloway]

You would say that. Maybe he's going.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, yes, that's right. He's climbing the building. And here's how.

[Andy Holloway]

Every other week, a little ping pong match between good and bad.

[Jason Moore]

We've established that. Is climbing a building.

[Andy Holloway]

Give me your best ping, right. Don't you call me out, but I want to hear your best ping pong right now. Whoa.

[Mike Wright]

That's a ping pong ball. No, that's a clock.

[Andy Holloway]

Dang it.

[Jason Moore]

There you go.

[Andy Holloway]

You dominated me right there.

[Mike Wright]

Sound effects back.

[Andy Holloway]

I was expecting him to be terrible.

[Jason Moore]

All right, here's.

[Mike Wright]

And I thought someone was literally playing here.

[Andy Holloway]

Jason, since you're capable, I want you to do the ping pong. Shannon, I'll give you his. His stat lines the last six weeks. All right, go for it. All right. 17.56. 14.85, 22.22. You were supposed to keep pace with me, by the way.

[Jason Moore]

You know, we're supposed to keep pace.

[Andy Holloway]

We'll work on it. We'll work on it. All right. So he's been a back and forth, but I mean, this is.

[Jason Moore]

It's really, really simple. Double digits, single digits. Double digits. Single digits the entire season.

[Mike Wright]

Trends continue.

[Jason Moore]

This is the Tyreek freak week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Hard hitting analysis.

[Andy Holloway]

See, he's the number three wide receiver right now, but he's been Hard to rely on as a number one wide receiver on your team because of the back and forth, but when he hits, it's great. Travis Kelsey, you're starting him every day.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Twice on Sunday, Kareem Hunt started locked and loaded. Alex Smith, locked and loaded, which.

[Mike Wright]

And so I will speak, Jason, start.

[Andy Holloway]

Of the week, the number one quarterback.

[Mike Wright]

Speak quickly to the Kareem Hunt people out there because on Twitter, for some reason people are nervous about Kareem Hunt. Kareem Hunt has one game under 100.

[Jason Moore]

In his career career.

[Mike Wright]

One game sub 100 yards from scrimmage. That was against the Denver Broncos who shut down everyone not named Orleans Darqua. So do not panic. Yes, the touchdowns haven't been there, but the yardage is there. When a running back is getting 100 plus yards from scrimmage every week, the touchdowns will come. So do not fret about Kareem Hunt.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, let's talk about some other players, some that I'm fretting over like Marshawn Lynch. The Raiders Dolphins, they're the Sunday night game. Jay Cutler should return in this game. Devonte Parker. I'm excited to see him back on the field because when he has played this year, he's been a relevant fantasy asset.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Are you starting him in his first game back against this Raiders very porous pass defense?

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Locked and loaded.

[Jason Moore]

I think you can start him. I think you can start Jarvis Landry with confidence if you're in any kind of PPR league. Kenny Stills probably takes a bump down now that Matt Moore is gone. But that doesn't mean Kenny Stills is completely unplayable. He could still get a long bomb from Jay Cutler. And the Oakland defense isn't very good.

[Mike Wright]

They're allowing nearly a 70% completion rate. The Raiders defense.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, Jay Cutler will do something about that.

[Mike Wright]

The Dolphins, Yeah, I was going to.

[Andy Holloway]

Say Jay Cutler's like, watch this, hold my beer. I can lower that.

[Mike Wright]

The Dolphins defense, they're allowing a slightly worse pass for completion. So this, if you got pass catching weapons despite Miami's actual defensive rankings, I'm, I'm more than happy to play all pass catchers.

[Jason Moore]

Cooper?

[Mike Wright]

Absolutely.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, so the offensive line has been bad.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Khalil Mack, on the other side, do you feel confident in starting Kenyon Drake or Damian Williams when Jay. Jay couldn't get the job done? I feel like I want to start Kenyan Drake this week, but I don't really have enough logic to back it up. So how do you. Where do you guys come in on.

[Andy Holloway]

That debate and this is the main thing that fantasy owners are going to want to hear from this matchup. And what's amazing is the team on the other side of the football, I think, has a very similar situation where Ajayi and Lynch, they're those, you know, pounders. And then you have Rashard in Washington, who we had to make this decision last week. I'm not going to be surprised if Drake or Williams and Eileen Drake has a touchdown or has some plays out of the backfield in the passing game. Jason mentioned Drake's ability to get to the edge and make a big play. You're not facing a defense here that I'm intimidated by. I know the offensive line is struggled, but there are players that fit better in schemes. And obviously they made a decision to ship a Jay out because they felt like Drake could get it done with Williams. So I'm okay playing Drake. I'm okay flexing Drake and seeing if you catch lightning in a bottle against the really bad Raiders.

[Mike Wright]

D. I'm okay with the play, but I am not expecting good things for either Drake or Damian Williams. If Damian Williams, it's going to be because he happens to get five or six targets.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. The only thing I would say is that the Raiders rush. D. The Raiders have given up a lot of points to the running back position. They are not set up to stop the run. They're not set up to stop.

[Mike Wright]

So did Baltimore.

[Jason Moore]

Well, but Baltimore had a reason, a, you know, a defensive player right now reason that they were improved. There's nothing to make you believe right.

[Mike Wright]

Now that, yes, it's the Miami offensive line.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean, perhaps. Perhaps it is. But Buffalo went, you know, 165 yards on the Raiders. Granted, they're a good rush defense. Baltimore went 145 yards on the ground against Oakland. They're middle of the pack. Denver, 142 rushing yards against them. Washington, 114 rushing yards against them. So, you know, whereas Miami. Miami you look at as a bad team, but they have a good rush defense. So long as it wasn't last week, fair. So I don't want to start. Marshawn lynch, he's a running back. What, this week, I think he's a running back. Three.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I do, too.

[Jason Moore]

Meaning he's outside the top 24.

[Andy Holloway]

I tried to find anybody to play over him in all of the leagues I have him in, but unfortunately I have to play him in some. So his upside has been, I mean, he's the Jason Whitten of running backs right now. He's got that seven foot popcorn.

[Mike Wright]

It's almost like he's a 30 plus year old running back who was out of football for a year.

[Andy Holloway]

Almost. Let's talk Monday Night Football. The Lions take on the Packers. Packers are two and a half point underdogs at home in Lambeau. That has to sting. 43 and a half point over under. What are the storylines in this game? How confident are you in Jordy Nelson, Devonte Adams and Randall Cobb?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, my confidence level is at least 2%. I mean I.

[Andy Holloway]

All the way up there.

[Jason Moore]

All the way up to 2%. Look, Randall Cobb is unstartable. I don't even think you need to roster Randall Cobb right now. Devonte Adams and Jordy, those are the two primary targets. You certainly need to roster them. And Jordy is talented enough where you should be able to play him as a flex option. But I don't, I don't really want to start anyone from the Green Bay packers if I can avoid it. Other than Aaron Jones.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I would absolutely play Aaron Jones. Hopefully Brett Hundley has prepared gotten better somehow and in this practice time I'm not expecting much from him in the. In the packers wide receiver core. Unfortunately the Lions, While they're ranked 25th in past defense, they have some playmakers which is very unfortunate for hunting like Darius Slay. They have. They create turnovers which is a problem for a very inexperienced quarterback. Like we said, Aaron Jones is a fine play. But over on I guess and we'll cover. What do you guys do with Montgomery at this point? Is it simply it's Aaron Jones has the starting running back time. Montgomery is. You have to bench him.

[Andy Holloway]

Absolutely. You have to bench him. And we talked about this on the footcast yesterday. Some news broke that time Montgomery may be seeing special teams work.

[Mike Wright]

That's called the demotion.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it is. It's called. Look, we're going to go with Aaron Jones and the spark he's created in this offense because the offense doesn't have very many things going for it right now.

[Jason Moore]

Time is running out to trade your Ty Montgomery shares.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, time is. Time has probably run out. He's a throw in to another deal at this point. Other storylines from this game you guys want to touch on before we move on to the daily dose?

[Mike Wright]

Certainly if Amir Abdullah, who has been mostly disappointing but he gets a Packers defense that's ranked 26th against the run.

[Jason Moore]

Also been a squeaky wheel this week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, certainly has demanding more red zone work.

[Jason Moore]

That's right.

[Mike Wright]

Andy just shakes his head.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, because I mean this guy Gets pulled down by arm tackles all the time. He's a single digit player fantasy wise in all but two games. I. You can ask for it, but it's just hard to imagine him succeeding. Maybe they give it to him. I don't know if he succeeds doing it. I mean he's. He was the Abdullah Express. Now he reminds me of one of those like mall trains that you have your kids ride on.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, those things are way too expensive. Like seven bucks a ticket. Ridiculous.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I don't want to pay for that or for this.

[Jason Moore]

Amir Abdullah has not had one single game this season without double digit carries. He has gotten the volume to get it done and he has pretty much only had 1. 2. I would call it one really good game.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I would too. 10.1 points in our format does not make a great game for me. Isaiah Crowell gets a lot of trash and he's in the double digit category as well. He's ranked five spots ahead of Amir Abdul on this season. Would you rather have Crowell or Abdullah rest of season?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, man, I would still rather have Abdul.

[Jason Moore]

I'd rather have Abdul because I think the offense is better and the workload is still there.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, we're going to move on guys. You got to jump right into the daily dose.

[Jason Moore]

The daily dose brought to you by draft.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, we're going to jump into an expert draft. This is where if you play on draft.comballers they take away the top 10 quarterbacks, top 20 running backs, top 20 wide receiver, tight end options. We're going to start here in 30 seconds. Mike, were you trying to talk wide receivers on the. I was.

[Mike Wright]

Detroit side, Golden Tates and must starts.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And Marvin Jones right now has proven himself.

[Mike Wright]

It was more just like bringing up TJ Jones who's is coming off of a decent game and maybe he's establishing himself as that.

[Andy Holloway]

You know what you should do? You should draft him in this expert draft.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, maybe I will.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. So again I laid the format out. Every Friday we jump into the draft app, we take one another on and the loser has to eat something terrible. Jason has lost the last two weeks in a row.

[Jason Moore]

Thanks for net for not playing.

[Andy Holloway]

So the options, the options are limited in this format. I'm on the clock at number one right now and you know what I'm going to do.

[Jason Moore]

Hey guys, you know who's still there? You can get Will Fuller. He's a great wide receiver.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going to take Amari Cooper number one overall in this game because I Think I'm going to go for that high, high upside and we at least saw it two weeks ago. So Cooper's my first pick.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to take a guy that I just, I believe in right now at running back. I think Alex Collins, what I saw last week has me bought in. So he's on my team.

[Mike Wright]

All right. That puts me on the corner. So I'm looking at a wide receiver.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going to never heard the corner before. Well, did you mean the turn?

[Mike Wright]

The turn, the edge.

[Andy Holloway]

I did.

[Mike Wright]

So you know what I mean.

[Andy Holloway]

Just trying to learn.

[Mike Wright]

Well, now it's the corner, Mike's corner where I drafted Devonte Parker. I'm pretty happy about that situation. Getting to start off with a big play wide receiver and man, the pickings, they're slim. My goodness. I guess I'm going to take Tevin Coleman at the running back position because no one's jumping off the screen is an absolute must own here.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, there's not a lot to love. I think one of the players got.

[Mike Wright]

To get in on this. This is ridiculous.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, one of the players that I do like, I'm going to take him now. It's a little deeper down in the list is Sterling Shepard.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

He's, you know the number one target clearly for Eli Rogers this week over Evan Ingram.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, Eli Rogers for Eli Manning.

[Mike Wright]

You can't even. He's a two time super bowl winner. Jason.

[Jason Moore]

I'm still looking at other names while I'm speaking and it's difficult. I can't chew bubble gum and talk.

[Andy Holloway]

So I went with Derek Carr. I'm going to stack him with Cooper. I'm going to get one of the quarterbacks I actually like in an expert draft off the board early and I'm going to follow that up with Jarvis Landry. I'm going to take my second wide receiver. So I've got Car, Landry and Cooper to kick off this expert draft. It's tough and this is one of the reasons though we get messaged all the time, we see our listeners have a lot of success on the app because it gets, you know, you do an expert draft, you're beneath some of those big obvious names and you can actually, you can win.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, this is really tough at the running back position. There's just almost nobody that I like so I'm going to take a fan favorite of myself, Kenyon Drake. I'm going to gamble.

[Andy Holloway]

Cool.

[Mike Wright]

Enjoy that. I'm going to take so on draft it is. You have a two wide receiver.

[Andy Holloway]

I know who you're taking or tight?

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to take the actual number one target for Eli Rogers.

[Andy Holloway]

I thought about it.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to take Evan Ingram and then on the way back, Ingram Engram, man. To fill in my other running back spot.

[Jason Moore]

It is very tough.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to go. I'm going to go for Marlon Mack. I don't like the matchup against Houston, but he's getting more involved with Robert Turban out for the year.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So I'm deciding now between do I go Carson Wentz, a great quarterback against a horrifically, you know, great defense.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jason Moore]

Or Cam Newton.

[Andy Holloway]

So confusing.

[Jason Moore]

But I think with the rushing value and now that Kelvin Benjamin is out of the way, Cam Newton should be great. Right, guys?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I would have taken him.

[Jason Moore]

Well, you can't, because I got him.

[Andy Holloway]

I went with Javorius Allen and Eddie Lacey as my two running backs.

[Mike Wright]

So I was considering Lacy or Mack.

[Andy Holloway]

That's the tough situation I'm in.

[Mike Wright]

You have. You're going to enjoy the weekend with me.

[Andy Holloway]

There we go.

[Mike Wright]

Eddie Lacey.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Hooray. Jason's on the clock.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. You know, I think that there's a wide receiver who's been really good the last few weeks. Kenny Golladay's out. Green Bay's past defense doesn't, you know, scare me to the point where I can take Marvin.

[Mike Wright]

Very good pick.

[Jason Moore]

It's got a little bit of a higher upside ceiling.

[Mike Wright]

Now. The question for me with my quarterback is do I believe In Carson Wentz vs Denver?

[Jason Moore]

Show the people. The people. Whether you do or don't, I.

[Mike Wright]

Well, I don't believe really in any of these other players.

[Jason Moore]

You could go Eli Manning stack with Ingram.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I'm going to take Carson Wentz.

[Jason Moore]

Happy wins.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, read your team, Mike.

[Mike Wright]

I got Carson Wentz, Tevin Coleman, Marlon Mack, Devonte Parker, Evan Ingram. I give myself a C plus.

[Jason Moore]

I've got Cam Newton, Alex Collins, Kenyon Drake, Sterling shepherd and Marvin Jones. I give myself a C+ plus.

[Andy Holloway]

Derek Carr, Javorius Allen, Eddie Lacy, Amari Cooper, Jarvis Landry. It's a clear B minus team.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, no.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. With Cooper on there.

[Andy Holloway]

So just a reminder, too, A lot is going on with the draft app lately. They have a world series of fantasy. They just started. Jason and I will be in New York to basically commentate in MC that finally World Series of fantasy table where they're giving away $25,000 and a bunch of other prizes you can enter on the draft.

[Mike Wright]

Really more than that. That's the grand prize?

[Andy Holloway]

No, it's over 100,000 in total prizes. That's the grand prize. And you can do that [e-mail] ballers and play with us. They're always taking care of people. They're not like, you know, the other providers they are. They got a money back guarantee of up to a hundred dollars if you don't like the app. So it's just one of those things. We really believe they're running the company the right way atdraft with draft.comballers. so that is it for today's episode.

[Mike Wright]

Injury updates real quick. Jameson Crowder, Jordan Reed not practicing, but Marquise Lee did return to practice.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, so that's a good update from earlier. Enjoy your weekend. Check out jointhefoot.com our fantasy community. Do it and you'll get game day updates over there. And Mike will be on Periscope on Sunday morning. Yep. See you later.

[Jason Moore]

Goodbye. It's new. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Join our fantasy fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com and follow us on Twitter the FFballers.